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Corthaxans
Natives of Corthax claim their heritage back to that of the First Men, the giants who were first lead to the land by their 3-faced God. Corthaxans are tall (6 feet), with tanned skin and golden curly hair, by nature. Three Ruling Families in Corthax play up their ancient features, working hard to marry only those that look the part, while foreigners interbreed freely with the peasantry and inject great variety. Vanity is a distinct element of the Corthaxan psyche, with visual appearance being important even among the lower classes so that the city streets are cleaner than most other places on Hydion. The result of this is that most high class Corthaxans share a resemblance, and if one doesn’t share the “right” features there’s no doubt about that person’s social standing (this has, of course, resulted in there being an unspoken market for hair and skin dyes to help those of high standing maintain the correct appearance). Corthax society is in the midst of an age of rediscovery. A “dark ages” period now called the Long Night that lasted generations came to an end a generation ago, and since then the ruling families are jockeying for position and power as ‘new’ ideas, re-discovered technology and magicks and the like suddenly come available once again. To that end, extra social status is given to those involved in building new things, creating new stuff, or discovering old stuff, particularly old stuff that can be tied to a “golden age” that existed many centuries ago. Elderly Corthaxans, adults during the Long Night and witnesses to the The Morning describe current days as a time of great excitement and anxiety. (But what does that mean exactly? Berlin Wall style surprise, maybe that’s when the Night family was wiped out?) Attitudes Most Corthaxans are proud of their city, proud to be a part of a distinct guild structure, and proud that their city has been such an ongoing success (since the break of the dark ages, that is). Most are quite content to live out their lives within the city and care little for anything happening outside the walls, and this includes those in the nearby towns and hamlets. Traders, of course, travel to foreign lands, but even they tend to be relatively unhappy about the prospect and return home as soon as possible. City leaders use the lack of magick as a source of pride as well - look what they are able to accomplish using only their minds and bare hands! Magick has been gone from Corthax for so long that quite a few younger folk are agnostic about whether or not magick even exists outside that which the spirits possess (see Religion, and Folklore, below). Religion Religion is not an overt feature of Corthaxan life. Most city folk know the gods are there, of course, and tend to say their own little prayers, but it’s a relatively secular society. The only true ‘god’ of the pantheon has no name and is simply referred to as the Three-Faced God, when referred to at all. Instead, most folk send their prayers to smaller demi-gods, avatars of the Three-Faced God that represent the thing they’re after - A god of wealth invoked before a major investment, for instance, or Osmiron, a god-being known to ferry dead Corthaxans to the underworld. While temples to various gods, sects and even foreign gods have been built in and around Corthax for generations, none is particularly worth noting, nor has become a particularly influential force. Some who study such things believe that the lack of interest in religion comes from the lack of Essence in the region - that there is a link between Essence in the world and the gods that rule it. Folklore Where religion wanes, folklore waxes. Folk tales provide guidance to Corthaxan life, and every situation brings to mind tales heard as children. In The Mud, for instance, Black Jack the Smith is said to roam. As punishment for a life poorly lived, his spirit is doomed to walk the city. In the dark, his lantern is sometimes seen, particularly by those wandering through the sunken Quarter looking for treasure. All children know that to follow Black Jack’s lantern and leave the known path is to meet with certain doom. Subsistence The Sea provides more food than the lands. Olives and other ‘mediterranean style’ foods are staples, and groves of olive and fruit trees stretch for miles inland outside the city walls. Fresh water generally comes via a network of qanats that have been channeling water from hills to the west for centuries, filling public wells within the walls. Ownership of the tunnels, canals and irrigation channels forms one of the power bases for the ruling families. Wells are known to occasionally run salty, usually for a short time in dry weather. Spoiled eel pie. I just saw a reference to it online, it sounds disgusting, I think it will make a fine delicacy, both in the ruling houses as well as in the poorest slop house. The difference is the eel used, of course!